SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



99 



Queries " column of Sciexce-Gossip. The principal 

 ■object of these projections is doubtless to render 

 the inhabitant of the shell mure secure from 

 attack. ('■) It tnighl happen thai shells of species 

 originally coloured dark by iron, lived on a white, 

 or nearly white, sea-bottom, such as one formed of 

 limestone or lighl sand. In time, by the process of 

 evolution, the descendants of these would become 

 white, having gained the power of preventing the 

 iron from impregnating their shells. If after a 

 time the posterity of the latter came to live on a 

 muddy or other dark ground, it would be only in 

 accordance with the principlesof evolution that they 

 should not only keep the power of resisting the iron, 

 bul also gain that of producing organic pigment. 

 I think we have evidence that the change has 



Fie. 3. Cardita planicosta. 



Showing position of coloured bands. 



"been brought about in different cases in each of 

 these three ways, as I shall presently show. It 

 would be incorrect to imagine that some shells 

 were coloured by iron and some by an organic 

 pigment because of the greater abundance of iron 

 in some parts of the sea-bed than in another, for 

 in the same place shells of different genera can be 

 found coloured by both pigments, whilst, on the 

 other hand, shells of the same genus are coloured 

 in the same manner wherever found. Thus, 

 species of Tapes from the Philippines are coloured 

 by iron, as are also those from Africa (fig. 1, No. 5) 

 or any other part of the world. There is probably 

 more than enough iron in every part of the sea to 

 supply the needs of all shells that require it. It 

 ■certainly appears to be true that most northern 

 species are coloured by iron, whilst the organic 

 pigment is characteristic of tropical shells. 

 (To be concluded.') 



MOSSES OF LYNMOUTH DISTEICT. 



\',\ Charles a. Briggs, I'\k - 



TX April last my friend, Mr. John T. Carrii 

 ■*• came down here to \i-it as, for 3 period of 

 convalescence after a long and serious illness. 

 Being unable, particularly a1 first, to take any 

 active exercise, and knowing thattheMoss Flora 

 of this portion of the country had m 

 properly recorded, it occurred to him thai it would 

 be a good opportunity to make a commencement 

 in that direction, and at the same time to relieve 

 the monotony of his enforced inactivity. 



We were both absolutely ignorant of mosses, 

 which no doubt is the cause of the paucity of the 

 present preliminary list. There are doubtless 

 many species which must of necessity be common 

 here, though we have not been able to detect them. 

 Mr. J. A. Wheldon, of Liverpool, kindly volun- 

 teered to name our specimens, and gave us many 

 most practical hints as to collecting;-, distinguish- 

 ing, and preserving our examples. I cannot suffi- 

 ciently express our obligation to him for the great 

 trouble he has taken in the matter, and may 

 mention that he has checked the identity of all 

 the species herein recorded. 



It appears strange that a district so rich in 

 mosses as this must obviously be, and so frequented 

 by visitors, should have no record ; but such seems 

 to be the case. The only literature that I can 

 find tonching on the subject is comprised in (i) 

 " Flora Devoniensis," by the Eev. J. P. Jones and 

 J. F. Kingston (London, 1829). The notes in this 

 work are apparently to a large extent supplied by 

 the celebrated bryologist the Rev. J. S. Tozer, and 

 are almost entirely confined to the Dart. Dartmoor, 

 Plymouth, and other stations in the South of 

 Devon, (ii) "The Mosses of Devon and Cornwall." 

 by E. M. Holmes and Frances Brent, published in 

 the third volume of the Annual Reports and Trans- 

 actions of the Plymouth Institution and Devon and 

 Cornwall Natural History Society. In this, as in 

 the " Flora Devoniensis," the north of the county 

 seems to have been but little worked by its com- 

 pilers and their correspondents. A few names of 

 mosses are inserted in it, on the authority of a 

 North Devon guide, but I have not been able to 

 ascertain the particular guide to which the authors 

 referred. Not any I have seen give a list of mosses. 

 Parfitt's "Moss Flora of Devon" I have not yet 

 been able to procure ; but as his other papers on 

 the fauna of Devon more particularly relate to 

 South Devon, I doubt if it would throw much light 

 on the Lynmouth flora. 



It may, perhaps, be useful if I shortly describe 

 the character of some of the localities mentioned 

 in the following list: 



"Desolation" or "Desolate" is the name of a 

 farm some three miles to the east of Lynmouth, 

 between Countisbury and Glenthorne, the lovely 

 seat of Miss Halliday. The collecting-ground 



B2 



